Fly
by MapleandPheonixFeather
Summary: Lily has always been one to chase the wrong person, so what happens when a new Quidditch coach comes along?


Lily was sitting at the Gryffindor table next to Louis Weasley and Emma Longbottom, her two best friends. They were scanning the Great Hall, seeing what had changed over the summer, or, more specifically, _who_ had changed.

"Oh, look at Lorcan," Emma said, pointing her chin in his general direction. "Since when did he become so hot?"

Lily turned her head to look. "Wow, you're right, Emma! Don't you think so, Louis?"

Lily looked at her cousin, who was in turn looking up at the staff table. "Why is there an empty chair?" he asked.

"Didn't you hear? Madam Hooch finally decided to retire. It's about time, I must say," Lily replied.

"Well, yeah, I knew that, but shouldn't her replacement be sitting there?"

"Oh, who cares? It's not like we'll get anyone interesting anyway. My dad said that when he was here, he had the most bizarre teachers ever. They had this author who pretended he was some big hotshot, a Death Eater pretending to be an Auror, and Teddy's dad, who was a werewolf. The most exciting person we have here is Professor Longbottom. They asked Oliver Wood if he would consider replacing her, but he said no. He's decided to simply move down to the reserves. Anyway, Louis, hasn't Lorcan turned out pretty sexy?"

"You know what the worst part about having female best friends is? The fact that they always ask you about the attractiveness of other males. No, Lily, I didn't notice. I did, however, see that Phoebe Thomas looks fabulous with her new haircut." Louis stated.

Lily rolled her eyes, but before she had time to retort, the doors of the Great Hall were thrown open, and a large man strutted in. He was tall and athletic, and Lily found her eyes raking his frame.

"Merlin's beard." Lily sighed.

"What?" Emma asked.

"Look at him. His broad shoulders, his muscular frame, and he has to be at least six foot four."

Emma laughed. "Lily, he looks like he's around our parents' age."

Lily shot her a glare. "No he doesn't; he doesn't even have grey hair. There's no way he's that old. I wonder why he's here, though."

The man had reached the head table. Professor Vector stood up. "Everyone, I'd like to start our new school year by introducing your new Quidditch referee and first-year flying teacher, Professor McLaggen."

"See, Lily, he's a teacher," Emma whispered.

"Doesn't make him old, Emma. I've never even heard of him before."

"So?"

Lily smiled. "So maybe it's time I did a little background check on him."

"Lily, that's creepy," Louis interjected.

"No it's not. Dad always told me that if I know nothing about someone, I should find out something about them."

The noise in the Great Hall increased as everyone began to get up and head towards their dormitories. Emma got up. "Whatever, Lily. Regardless of how old he is or what you find, nothing can happen between you two anyway."

"And why not? We have to have some sort of fun in our last year," Lily snapped, hands on her hips.

"Because he's a teacher, Lily," Louis answered. "And teachers can't date students."

Lily huffed. "Whatever. I'm still going to do a background check on him."

"There is _nothing_ that could be about Professor McLaggen in here." Lily was scrounging through the trophy room while Louis leaned against a wall.

"How do you know? You don't even know his first name." Louis said. "By the way, where's Emma?"

"She'll be down in a bit; she had to meet her dad."

Louis nodded. "So you're saying that the name McLaggen doesn't show up anywhere in here?"

"No, there is, but it's for some guy named Tiberius, and that's definitely not him."

"And how would you know that?" Louis challenged.

"He doesn't look like a Tiberius." Louis snorted. "Shut up, Louis; he doesn't, and it was also from fifty years ago. There's no way that it's him."

Emma came running in. "Hey, guys, any luck?"

"No." Lily sighed. "I've checked the library records and here, and there's nothing. He was never a prefect or Head Boy or Quidditch Captain. He didn't do anything interesting here. He's not even in any of the old Quidditch team pictures. I don't get it."

"Lily, why do you even care so much?" Emma asked.

"Because it's always good to know things about who's teaching you," Lily replied. "I mean, he could be an ex-Death Eater for all we know."

"Are you sure you don't just have a thing for older men who you can never get?" Emma inquired.

"What are you talking about?"

"Come on, Lily. Professor Longbottom?" Louis pointed out.

"Do you know how awkward it was to have to listen to you go on and on about how great you think my dad is? First it was the "realisation" that he was actually attractive, and then it was how he was so brave and so smart and such a hero." Emma added.

"You have to admit, your dad is pretty brilliant," Lily replied.

"Yes, but he's also married, a teacher, and happens to have a kid who is your best friend."

Lily shrugged.

"Do you really want this to turn out like that time, Lily?" Louis asked. "Didn't Professor Longbottom pick up on it and send an owl to your parents?"

Lily groaned. "That was the most awkward experience of my life; thanks for bringing it up _again_."

"Well, you're doing the same thing with Professor McLaggen," Emma stated.

"I am not! There are three differences. One, he's not that old; two, he's not friends with my parents, and three, I'm just doing a background check."

"If you're just doing a background check, why don't you ask your dad for one?"

"You know what? I will."

"No, Lily, he was only joking; you don't really need to..." Emma trailed off. Lily had already marched out the door.

Harry's letter arrived in the post the next morning. Lily ripped the letter open and quickly scanned it, a smirk growing across her face.

"He isn't suspicious of anything?" Emma asked.

"Well if he is, he isn't letting on," Lily replied. "Take a look."

Emma and Louis leaned over the letter.

_Dear Lily,_

_I hope you are enjoyed your first week back. Nothing has really gone on here, and given that I have not received any letters from the school, I'm assuming your first few days have been fairly uneventful too, besides the arrival of Cormac McLaggen._

_From an Auror's perspective, while I don't particularly like McLaggen, there's nothing cynical or harmful about him. He has no history of criminal actions and he didn't sympathise with Voldemort._

_As your dad, I can tell you that he is an arrogant, self-righteous, pompous git who has a nasty temper. He tried out for Keeper when I was Quidditch Captain but he didn't make the team. The one time he did play, I got hit in the head with a Bludger. He kept trying to command the team. It was quite annoying, really. Your Aunt Hermione would like to say that he lacks manners and is about as much of a gentleman as your average giant. The less you have to see of him, the better off you'll be._

_Love,_

_Dad_

"See, Lily, he is old. He was in Hogwarts at the same time as our parents," Emma whispered.

"Sounds like your dad doesn't like him; I guess that means he's even more off-limits. At least your dad likes Professor Longbottom," Louis added.

Lily turned to look at the head table. "But Dad still didn't tell me anything about him. All I've found out is that he's my parents' age, he never played Quidditch, and he was an arse towards my dad."

"Isn't that enough?" Emma inquired.

"That still doesn't tell me anything specific about him. What did he do as a job? Why is he here? What makes him tick?" Lily continued to look at him

"And how are you going to find all of that out?" Emma asked.

Lily turned back towards Emma. "There are perks to being Quidditch Captain. I asked Professor Longbottom if we could do tryouts next weekend, and he said yes. So, today, I'm going to go and book the Quidditch pitch." Lily looked at her watch. "Actually, I have time now." She looked up at the head table and saw Professor McLaggen leaving. "I should go."

"Lily, you can't leave right after he's left; it will look suspicious," Louis whispered.

"Especially since my dad's looking at you right now," Emma added.

Lily looked up and saw that Neville was indeed watching her. She met his eyes, smiled, and turned back to her breakfast. "You're right; it will have to wait until after Herbology."

Lily was feeling stifled in Herbology. It seemed as if Neville was keeping an extra close eye on her, and she wasn't quite sure why. The two had long since got over Lily's little infatuation, so it couldn't be that. Lily couldn't help but wonder if maybe he had an inkling of what she was up to, so she was exceptionally careful with what she said to Emma.

Lily was relieved when the lesson was finally over and she could leave. Knowing that Professor Longbottom was probably watching her as she left, Lily wandered back into the castle with Emma.

"I thought you were going to see Professor McLaggen about 'booking the pitch'."

"I am, but your dad is keeping an annoyingly close eye on me."

"Why is he doing that?"

"I think he knows," Lily said, voicing her fear for the first time.

"How would he know, Lily?"

Lily pulled her into the closest empty classroom. "He worked it out the last time, didn't he? He'd notice the signs. In fact, he's probably the only one who would think to look, given my history."

Emma looked at her. "Well, if you want to get to the pitch unnoticed, Dad has a first-year class right now. I'll even walk part of the way with you; it will look less suspicious that way."

Lily studied her friend. "Why are you helping me? This morning, all you were talking about was how Professor McLaggen was nothing but trouble."

"I still think that, but the quickest way to make you realise it is to have you experience it."

Lily smirked. "And if it turns out he's actually wonderful?"

Emma shrugged. "Then I was wrong and I live knowing the secret, but trust me, your dad will have been right."

Lily moved towards the door of the classroom. "Well, let's go, then."

The two girls walked towards the pitch.

"Why do you always like the older men, anyway?" Emma asked.

Lily glanced over at her friend. "I don't know. I guess there's a sort of the thrill in the chase, you know? Almost as if it's something I can't get, but I have to try anyway. Does that make sense?"

Emma shook her head. "No."

Soon, they reached the point where Emma would stop.

"Emma, wait, do I look okay?" Lily asked, playing with her hair.

"You look as nice as anyone wearing a uniform can, Lily. Besides, he's a teacher; he's not going to be checking you out."

Lily gave her hair one last run through. "Wish me luck!" she said, as she turned towards the pitch.

Lily approached the door of Professor McLaggen's office. She could feel her heartbeat speed up a bit as she neared it and put her hand up to knock on the door. She rapped the wood three times and stood there waiting, her hands on her hips. Within a few seconds, the door opened, and Lily was looking straight into the well-toned chest of Hogwart's newest professor.

"Can I help you?"

Lily looked up upon hearing his voice and smiled. "Yes, I need to book the Quidditch pitch for next Saturday."

"Well, come in for a moment," Professor McLaggen said as he moved from the door.

Lily walked in and looked around. The room was quite bare, with a lone Tornado jersey hanging on the wall.

"You played for the Tornados?" Lily asked as Professor McLaggen ruffled through his desk, looking for the signup sheet. "Why is it that I've never seen you play? The Tornados are my brother's favourite team; we go to a lot of the games. Actually, I've never even heard of you."

The professor looked up. "I never really had the chance to play." He pulled out a piece of paper. "So you wanted to book the pitch?"

"Yes, sir, for eight in the morning on Saturday, please."

"Purpose?"

"Gryffindor Quidditch team try-outs."

The man looked at her in surprise. "You're the Potter girl, aren't you?"

"Yeah, I'm Lily, though most people don't need to ask to make sure."

"You just don't look like him."

Lily changed the subject, not wanting him to focus on how young she was. "So why didn't you play?"

"I could never make it any further than the reserves on any team. I didn't have enough experience, mostly due to the fact that I didn't play in school. I'm an excellent flyer; I just didn't work well on a team."

"Why didn't you play at Hogwarts?" Lily asked, taking a step towards him.

"Oliver Wood was here for my first five years, and he was an amazing player. In my sixth year, I was in the hospital wing during tryouts, and..."

"Why were you in the hospital wing?" Lily interrupted.

"I ate Doxy eggs for a dare."

"That is so cool," Lily replied. "So what happened in your seventh year?"

"I lost the position to your uncle. I missed a penalty shot, whereas he saved them all, and regardless of the fact that your mother took it easy on him, your dad wouldn't let me try again."

"So that's why you're here," Lily said. "There's nothing left for you."

"That's right," he answered.

"I guess you didn't really like my family all that much, then," Lily said.

"You father always hated me, probably because he felt threatened by my superior knowledge in Quidditch plays. Your uncle hated me, and I'm not too fond of him myself. I did go on a date with your aunt once."

"Really? How was that?"

Cormac gave Lily an odd look. "Why are you so interested in all my past encounters with your family?"

Lily shrugged. "I guess I just like to know what they were like when you were younger."

"Well, maybe it's a story you need to ask her yourself."

Lily smiled. "You know, Professor, I'm Keeper for the Gryffindor Quidditch team. I would love to be shown some of the moves you've picked up, and you could tell me about some plays too, after I make the final team."

"I do have some pretty great moves, actually," he answered with a smile.

"You could even come to the try-outs, if you wanted," Lily pushed, hoping she wasn't being too obvious.

"Saturday, eight o'clock. I'll be there."

"You chose a good team."

Lily and Professor McLaggen were sitting in his office with cups of tea. "Yeah?"

"I wouldn't have made the team any differently."

"Good," Lily smiled. "Since I've never seen you play, could you tell me more about your Quidditch career?

Lily became a frequent visitor to Professor McLaggen's office. She listened as he went on about his career and followed all his directions when they flew together. She was becoming so comfortable around him that she no longer checked how she looked when she made her way over to his office. She knew she had found her way into his heart – by listening to his anecdotes and stroking his pride. She could tell that he no longer saw her as a silly seventeen-year-old girl, but as a mature Keeper.

Soon, it was October, and it was time for the first Quidditch game of the year: Gryffindor versus Slytherin.

Lily was eating a bowl of oatmeal, encouraging her teammates to do the same. Lily had never been one to feel nervous before a game, and thus she ate her oatmeal quickly. She had just shoved the last spoonful into her mouth when the post came. She looked up, expecting to see her father's snowy owl bringing his ritual pre-game letter. What she didn't expect was to see two owls coming towards her: the familiar white and a regal-looking eagle owl.

She took both letters, offering the owls bits of bacon that she had grabbed from the platter in the middle of the table. After an affectionate nip on the ear from her father's owl, the two owls soared away. Lily grabbed her father's letter first.

_Dear Lily,_

_Good luck on your first game! If you've been training your team as hard as I know you can, there will be no issue with you winning. Don't take any crap from McLaggen. Play cleanly so he has no reason to penalise you._

_Love,_

_Dad_

Emma was reading the letter over Lily's shoulder, knowing what it was, and that Lily wouldn't get angry over her reading it.

"Wow, your dad really doesn't like Professor McLaggen."

"There's nothing wrong with him!" Lily defended. "He just doesn't like him because they didn't get along well in school."

"Really, and how would you know that?" Emma asked. Lily blushed. "You've been sneaking off to see him, haven't you?"

"Emma, be quiet. No, I haven't."

"Really," Emma continued. "So you're saying that every time you've gone out to 'go flying', you were actually doing just that?"

"Yes," Lily said defiantly.

"So you haven't seen him at all since you booked the pitch?"

"Well, not exactly..."

"Lily!"

"Okay, so we've been flying together. He's been showing me some moves."

Emma studied Lily. "That's it?"

"That's it," Lily affirmed. "Really, Emma, what do you take me for? I don't even know his first name!"

Lily grabbed the second letter and tore the envelope open harder than she would have normally. She didn't recognize the writing.

_Lily,_

_The conditions are favourable for you today. Make sure your team flies into the sun; that way the other team won't see them coming. Make sure you watch the middle ring; don't wander while you watch the ball. There are countless other things I could advise you to do, but we have already covered many of them together, so I wish you the best of luck. With your talent and my excellent advice, you will be unstoppable._

_Sincerely,_

_Prof. Cormac McLaggen_

"Cormac," Lily whispered.

"What?" Emma asked.

"Cormac," Lily repeated. "His name is Cormac."

"I've never heard of a name like that."

"I like it," Lily snapped.

"Do you know what else you like? Quidditch. And you have to leave. Now."

Lily glanced at her watch. "You're right. Thanks, Emma!"

Gryffindor won by a landslide, but it was no surprise, really. Cormac seemed to be especially lenient with the Gryffindors, and the team was playing in top form. The Gryffindors celebrated in the common room that evening, and at about ten, Lily grabbed Emma and pulled her off to the side.

"You need to cover for me."

"Why?" Emma asked.

"Because I'm sneaking out," Lily explained, as though the answer was obvious.

"You're going to go see Professor McLaggen, aren't you?"

"Emma, please."

"Fine, go. But I'm not lying to my father, do you understand me?"

Lily smiled. "Then make sure he doesn't come up here."

She ran up the stairs to the dormitory, where she took out the Invisibility Cloak her father had lent her and the bottle of elf made wine she had got James to buy for her. She slipped the Cloak over herself and slowly made her way through the crowd and the portrait hole. She made it through the castle, ran across the Quidditch pitch, and knocked on Cormac's office door.

Cormac opened the door and looked around. He was about to close the door when Lily lifted the Cloak off of her face.

A shocked Cormac stepped aside, letting her in. He stood across from her with his arms crossed. "Nice Cloak."

"Thanks; it's my dad's."

"Did you steal it?"

"No, he gave it to all of us while at school. Something about it being a Potter legacy of sneaking around where we shouldn't when we shouldn't."

"You know you shouldn't be here," Cormac said, as Lily shed the Ccloak, revealing the wine that she held in her hand.

"I'd figured thought we'd celebrate. There will be partying in the tower for another two hours at least, and since you can't really join us, I'd figured I'd come and celebrate with you, since you did help us win and all."

"Lily," Cormac butted in.

"It's fine, really," Lily interrupted. "I've been in far worse situations, trust me, and my father did this once too, in his sixth year."

Cormac, knowing he was defeated, rolled his eyes and conjured two glasses.

Lily allowed him to pour the wine. After a few moments of silent sipping, she asked "So, Cormac. What kind of name is that, exactly?"

He looked at her. "Irish."

"I figured knew that.," Lily smirked. "I meant, what does it mean?"

"What does Lily mean?"

"I'm named after my grandmother;, everyone knows that. Apparently, lilies are often a sign of purity." Cormac snorted. "But really, what does your name mean?"

"It means charioteer or raven."

"Both things associated with war," Lily said.

The two discussed the game over their glasses of wine. The bottle was depleting, so Lily cast a non-verbal refilling charm. Soon, she was feeling a bit tipsy, or enough for her to lay her feelings out on the table.

"You know, I really like you, Cormac."

Cormac, who was slightly less tipsy than she, was shocked at her boldness. "When have we switched to first names?"

"Come on, Professor," Lily said, a slight slur to voice. "Our relationship is hardly a typical student -teacher relationship."

"Well, yes, you're right, but it doesn't mean that it's this," Cormac muttered.

"And why not?" Lily asked, leaning forward slightly and began to run her finger up his arm.

"My job," he muttered.

"Trust me, we're fine;, I've looked into this," Lily said, bringing herself in closer.

"Lily," Cormac continued. "We really can't..."

Lily had leaned the rest of the way in and had pushed her lips on his. She was surprised with the amount of force that pushed her away.

He turned his back. "We can't."

Lily put her hand on his shoulder, causing him to turn around. She saw as his face showed signs of recklessness. She gasped as he pulled her back in and kissed her with an aggressiveness she had never seen felt before.

When she pulled away, she saw a glint in his eyes.

She knew she had him.


End file.
